The Man from St. Louis

"The Man from St. Louis" is the second of three interconnected novellas written by Leslie Charteris and included in the tenth Saint book Once More the Saint published in 1933. It had previously been published in the magazine Thriller as "Hi Jacker."

Plot
Tex Goldman, a small-time crime boss from the U.S., comes to London and sets up his own American-style gang, the Green Cross Gang. He soon finds himself in a pitched battle against The Saint, who (with unofficial encouragement from Mr. Teal) sets out to prevent London from becoming another Chicago, along the way dodging assassination attempts, including a bomb that destroys part of Simon and Patricia's new home in London. In order to stop Goldman's string of killings and robberies, Templar decides to kill the gangster, but relents at the last minute when he learns that Goldman has just been married and has promised his new wife that he'll turn over a new leaf; he settles for capturing Goldman's trigger man, instead. This story takes place three months after the events of "The Gold Standard" and is unusual for its lack of resolution — Goldman apparently goes free, despite indicating his plan to conduct a major heist soon. (The Green Cross Gang returns in the short story "The Export Trade" included in the next book, The Brighter Buccaneer; however, that short story was actually published in a magazine before "Man from St. Louis", therefore Templar is unfamiliar with the group in that piece.)

Television adaptation
"The Man from St. Louis" was adapted as an episode of The Saint starring Roger Moore retitled "The Set-Up" and aired on January 14, 1965, as part of the third season.